Re-Reading Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling's young wizard has already conquered dozens of languages (along with the silver screen), building a durable brand and a fan base of perhaps unprecedented scope: it's past time for academics to seek their share. Though this volume is not (as Gupta acknowledges) the first academic study of""the Harry Potter phenomenon,"" it attempts new critical ground: where other critics look at Rowling's life, her books in the context of writing for children, or their specifically British meaning, Gupta seeks a""text-to-world"" interpretation focused on Hogwarts' potential""social and political effects"" anywhere the books are read. Fully half this relatively short volume outlines the theoretical approaches Gupta rejects, with sometimes extensive reference to their champions (Wolfgang Iser, Tzvetan Todorov, Roland Barthes). Actual readings of the Potter books move quickly through chosen, sometimes obvious, topics (""servants and slaves,"" sex, advertising), mixing attractive insights with responses to previous Potter critics and very broad, sometimes unconvincing claims. Gupta concludes that the books' antiracist themes conceal a crypto-imperialist paternalism (wizards will always dominate Muggles); that attempts to map Rowling's world onto ours often fail (house-elves, for example, have no real-world analog); and, finally, that the""books are an extended celebration of unthinking courage and luck at the expense of seeking explanations and using rational principles."" Though Gupta (Marxism, History and Intellectuals) has produced a useful, well-meant contribution to an expanding academic field, general readers who enjoy both the Potter books and well-written, careful literary criticism will probably be disappointed.